The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to a connector assembly having a floatable connector that is configured to engage a mating connector.
Connector systems can include a first connector that is configured to mate with a second connector. The connectors may be electrical and/or optical connectors. Optical connectors are configured to interconnect different optical fibers in a manner that maintains the transmission of light signals through the interconnection. For example, an optical connector may mechanically couple and align the cores of different optical fibers so that the light signals can be transmitted between the optical fibers. Optical connectors may include ferrules that hold the ends of the optical fibers. Each ferrule is configured to align with and engage another ferrule to establish an optical coupling. To maintain the optical coupling throughout operation, biasing mechanisms (e.g., coil springs) may be used to provide a constant residual force that presses the optically-coupled ferrules together.
An electrical connector includes at least one electrical contact that is configured to mechanically and electrically engage corresponding contact(s) of another connector. When two electrical connectors are mated together, biasing mechanisms similar to those described above may be used to maintain the engagement between the two mated electrical connectors.
However, current electrical and optical connector systems may have undesirable limitations or complexities. For example, optically-coupled ferrules may face each other along a mating axis (or z-axis). In some known optical connector systems, the ferrules are permitted to move only a limited amount (e.g., about 1-2 millimeters) from each other along the mating axis. As another example, electrical and optical connector systems may include a backplane circuit board that extends orthogonal (i.e., perpendicular) to the mating axis of the connector system. At least one of the connectors may be mounted to the backplane circuit board. However, the residual forces provided by the above-described biasing mechanisms may provide unwanted stress on the backplane circuit board, which may cause the backplane circuit board to bend or warp during its operating lifetime. In some cases, it may be necessary to use additional components, such as board stiffeners, to counteract the residual stresses.
Accordingly, there is a need for a connector assembly that permits a greater amount of axial movement than known connector assemblies and/or reduces the stresses experienced by various components of the connector assembly or connector system.